Film premiere, community event to be held May 5 at the Mahaiwe
GREAT BARRINGTON — “Mosaic,” a short documentary film, will make its premiere on Thursday, May 5 at 6 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Admission to the event is free, but registration is required.
Commissioned by the Western Massachusetts Health Equity Network and created by local filmmaker Michelle Falcón Fontánez, “Mosaic” highlights the transformational work of local leaders of color and other voices from the Connecticut River Valley to the Berkshires, including two local community members, BRIDGE leader Florence Afanukoe and resident Arthur Wright.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion and community conversation facilitated by BRIDGE CEO and Founding Director Gwendolyn VanSant, National Drum Major for Justice awardee for BRIDGE’s mutual aid work on behalf of the most vulnerable during the pandemic. This recognition highlights the impact and significance of the work that BRIDGE has been catalyzing for the past 15 years within its community, and the need for programs like these to continue. VanSant will be joined by Jessica Collins of the Public Health Institute, Sasha Jimenez of Planned Parenthood and the Mosaic Film Committee, BCC Associate Professor of Sociology Colin Adams, and Dr. Lara Setti of Community Health Programs, along with film subjects Afanukoe and Wright.
Prior to the film screening, from 4-6 p.m. join in the CARE GB project at Giggle Park — behind Town Hall and across from the Mahaiwe — and enjoy self-guided tours of the Town Parks and Du Bois landmarks.
Beginning at 5 p.m., a Resource Fair will be held in the Mahaiwe lobby. CHP will offer health information, Greylock will feature its Impact Report on Community Development, and BRIDGE will celebrate Cinco De Mayo with cultural songs, cuisine, and dance.
—A.K.
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Commemoration, film screening mark Holocaust Remembrance Day
PITTSFIELD — On Sunday, April 24, at 2 p.m., join the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires for a community commemoration of Yom HaShoah-Holocaust Remembrance Day with a screening of “The Invisibles” (2017). Candle lighting and prayers of remembrance will follow the film and be led by Rabbi Daveen Litwin, the Federation’s director of community engagement and programming.
This in-person event will take place at the Berkshire Museum’s Little Cinema, located at 39 South Street in Pittsfield. Space is limited; please register online. Masking and proof of COVID vaccination are required for entry.
About “The Invisibles”: While Goebbels infamously declared Berlin “free of Jews” in 1943, 1,700 managed to survive in the Nazi capital. Claus Räfle’s docudrama traces the stories of four real-life survivors who learned to hide in plain sight. Moving between cinemas, cafés, and safe houses, they dodged Nazi officials and a dense network of spies and informants. Yet their prudence was at odds with their youthful recklessness, prompting them to join the resistance, forge passports, or pose as Aryan war widows. Weaving these story threads together, the film is a testament to the resourcefulness, willpower, and sheer chance needed to survive against incredible odds.
—A.K.
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Berkshire Bounty mobile food drive set for May 3
GREAT BARRINGTON — Berkshire Bounty’s next Mobile Food Drive will be held Tuesday, May 3 from 9-11 a.m.
Volunteers will again be collecting canned and/or packaged goods to be delivered to The People’s Pantry in Great Barrington. Volunteers will come to donors’ homes on May 3 between 9–11 a.m. Donations should be left on the doorstep by 9 a.m. Donations may also be dropped off at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire or The People’s Pantry.
Please consider a) donating canned and/or packaged food or b) driving to pick up food at donors’ home. If you are interested in participating, please email Berkshire Bounty at info@berkshire-bounty.org and include what would like to do, your street address, email address, and best contact telephone number.
Foods in most demand are hearty soups, pasta, pasta sauce, cereal, cooking oil, coffee, and tea. If donating from your own pantry, please check expiration dates.
—A.K.
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BerkshiresCanCode announces launch of initial program on May 10
PITTSFIELD — CanCode Communities, a non-profit organization training non-traditional talent for software career opportunities, has announced the launch of its initial BerkshiresCanCode program: Front-End Web Development. Registration is now open for the 12-week course, which runs May 10–July 26.
This is the first course to be offered by BerkshiresCanCode, which represents a close collaboration between CanCode Communities, educational partner Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), and community partners Berkshire Innovation Center and 1Berkshire. BerkshiresCanCode delivers programs that upskill residents for tech career opportunities, and assist employers by developing a pool of highly skilled software coders, developers and engineers.
The Front-End Web Development course will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:45–8:45 p.m., and offered in a hybrid format: in person at MCLA-Pittsfield, 66 Allen Street, and online. More information and registration are available online.
The Front-End Web Development course includes tutorials, assignments, and individual and group projects that give students hands-on practice in building the pieces of code that determine how an online experience feels, and connects the user experience with the data-crunching processes of the back end. Through lecture and individual assignments, students will establish solid foundations in HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, Git and GitHub. The latter part of the course features team-based portfolio-building projects for community organizations, giving students real-world experience in web design and development.
The course may be of particular interest to graphic designers, as it teaches the technical skills necessary for UI (user interface) development and wire-framing. The course may also be attractive to beginning programmers with aspirations to create mobile applications, as it establishes foundations in JavaScript that support eventual progression into Full-Stack Web Development.
Launched in 2016 as AlbanyCanCode and rebranded last year, CanCode Communities now includes seven entities: AlbanyCanCode, KingstonCanCode, NewAmericansCanCode, SaratogaCanCode, HerkimerCanCode, NewYorkCanCode, and BerkshiresCanCode. More than 300 students have graduated from its courses, securing tech jobs with leading employers including Accenture, Goldman Sachs, New York State Office of Information Technology Services, MVP Healthcare, and receiving average annual salary increases exceeding $18,000.
—A.K.
